Systems and methods for cross-browser advertising ID synchronization

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are for identifying online advertisements to display to a user based on historical user data collected across the user&#39;s use of a plurality of Internet devices. One method includes receiving, over a network, a request for an advertisement to display at a first device of the user, the request including a unique identifier stored on the user&#39;s first device; accessing, in a database, a demographic or browsing history information generated from the user&#39;s use of a second device, the demographic or browsing history information being stored in the database in relation to the unique identifier; and identifying, based on the demographic or browsing history information, an advertisement to display at the user&#39;s first device. The demographic or browsing history information is synchronized based on the unique identifier being stored on the user&#39;s first device and the user&#39;s second device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/662,755, filed Mar. 19, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/922,379, filed Jun. 20, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.9,015,062, issued Apr. 21, 2015, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to onlineuser ID management and to Internet advertising. More specifically,exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems andmethods for identifying users as they use various devices to access theInternet (e.g., by browser-linking technologies), and to onlineadvertising based on users' identities for targeted and behavioraladvertising.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, people have started spending more and more timebrowsing content on the Internet, as opposed to traditional sources. Asa result, the value of advertising on web pages has risen significantly,and techniques for targeting demographics of interest have become veryadvanced.

Internet cookies have become a ubiquitous and invaluable tool forperforming Internet advertising and other important online functions.Traditional techniques for targeting electronic advertising involveconfiguring users' Internet browsers such that third party cookies canbe set, read from, and written to. When a cookie is set on a browser,one of the identifying elements of the cookie is the domain from whichit was served. If an Internet user visits, for example, www.site.com andthat site contains code to set a cookie, then that cookie will be setwith “site.com” as its domain. Continuing this illustrative example,site.com can also embed code that pulls content, such as ads, from URLsthat are not on the site.com domain and those ads can also set cookies.For example, site.com can have code on its page that pulls an ad from,by way of example, www.adnetwork.com. The ad will be served fromadnetwork.com and will set cookies on the adnetwork.com domain.

Online advertising may be significantly enhanced by web browsers that,by default or by settings, allow third party cookies, and by people whopermit visited sites to set and read third party cookies. Use of thirdparty cookies enables ad networks to access cookies that they set acrossa wide network of websites, thereby enabling behavioral and contextualadvertising to web viewers across many visited websites. Specifically,web browsers that are set to allow third party cookies will allow, forexample, adnetwork.com to set its cookie despite the user having visitedwww.site.com. Furthermore, the same browser setting will also allowadnetwork.com to access any cookies set under their domain regardless ofwhich site the Internet user is visiting.

By way of background, ad networks typically have hundreds or thousandsof partners (often referred to as “publishers”) that publish onlinecontent along with “ad tags” provided by their partner ad network. Forexample, each of a news website (www.news.com), a blog (www.blog.com),and an informational website (www.info.com), among others, may engage anad network to efficiently and profitably advertise to those websites'viewers. The ad network provides each of those sites with an ad taghaving the ad network's domain, e.g., “adnetwork.com.” For any visitors,or more specifically, visitors' browsers that allow third party cookies,the ad network may access cookie data of visitors to its partners' sites(i.e., across its entire network of sites), even though those sites'domains (e.g., www.news.com, etc.) do not match the ad network's domain.Specifically, the ad network's ad tag on each site may access cookiedata associated with the domain of the ad tag. As a result, the adnetwork may learn more about a user's browsing history across itsnetwork, and therefore more about the user's likely demographics,interests, purchasing goals, and other useful advertising information.

Each time an Internet advertisement is shown to a website visitor isknown as an “impression.” When the user is shown the advertisement, theuser may select, or “click,” on the advertisement, or may take another“action,” such as completing an online form to request more information.If the user later purchases the product, the purchase is referred to asa “conversion” of the impression. Advertisers may be interested inimpressions (e.g., if they are trying to increase awareness of a brand),clicks (e.g., if they are trying to provide more information about aproduct), or conversions (e.g., if they are trying to make sales or getnew users to sign up for services). Advertisers may pay advertisingnetworks and therefore publishers based on, for example, impressions,clicks, or conversions over the course of an advertising campaign.Typically, an advertiser may have a spending plan that specifies how theadvertiser wishes to spend its budget during a campaign.

Even though cookies enable advanced targeting and advertising to userswhose browsers enable third party cookies, these technologies are unableto leverage browsing history, behavioral and contextual information, andother intelligence relating to a user when it is divided among multipledevices or browsers. Specifically, most modern users of the Internetoften use more than one device to access the Internet over the course ofa single day, such as, for example, a PC at home, a laptop at work, andone or more tablets and/or mobile devices throughout the day, whetheremployer-provided or personal. Because of the standards associated withexisting cookies and browsers, the advantageous user IDs, browsinghistory, demographic data, etc., can only be stored in relation to acookie stored for a particular browser on a particular device. Becauseonline advertisers are interested in improved targeting to theirintended audience, ad networks also have a strong interest in providingtargeting to users across their various browsers and devices.

Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods for online user IDmanagement and to Internet advertising. More specifically, a need existsfor systems and methods for identifying users as they use variousdevices to access the Internet (e.g., by browser-linking technologies),and to online advertising based on users' identities for targeted andbehavioral advertising.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to certain embodiments, methods are disclosed for identifyingonline advertisements to display to a user based on historical user datacollected across the user's use of a plurality of Internet devices. Onemethod includes receiving, over a network, a request for anadvertisement to display at a first device of the user, the requestincluding a unique identifier stored on the user's first device;accessing, in a database, a demographic or browsing history informationgenerated from the user's use of a second device, the demographic orbrowsing history information being stored in the database in relation tothe unique identifier; and identifying, based on the demographic orbrowsing history information, an advertisement to display at the user'sfirst device; wherein the demographic or browsing history information issynchronized based on the unique identifier being stored on the user'sfirst device and the user's second device.

According to certain embodiments, systems are disclosed for identifyingonline advertisements to display to a user based on historical user datacollected across the user's use of a plurality of Internet devices. Onesystem includes a data storage device storing instructions foridentifying online advertisements to display to a user based onhistorical user data collected across the user's use of a plurality ofInternet devices; and a processor configured to execute the instructionsto perform a method including: receiving, over a network, a request foran advertisement to display at a first device of the user, the requestincluding a unique identifier stored on the user's first device;accessing, in a database, a demographic or browsing history informationgenerated from the user's use of a second device, the demographic orbrowsing history information being stored in the database in relation tothe unique identifier; and identifying, based on the demographic orbrowsing history information, an advertisement to display at the user'sfirst device; wherein the demographic or browsing history information issynchronized based on the unique identifier being stored on the user'sfirst device and the user's second device.

According to certain embodiments, a non-tangible computer-readablemedium is disclosed storing instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to perform a method for identifyingonline advertisements to display to a user based on historical user datacollected across the user's use of a plurality of Internet devices, themethod including: receiving, over a network, a request for anadvertisement to display at a first device of the user, the requestincluding a unique identifier stored on the user's first device;accessing, in a database, a demographic or browsing history informationgenerated from the user's use of a second device, the demographic orbrowsing history information being stored in the database in relation tothe unique identifier; and identifying, based on the demographic orbrowsing history information, an advertisement to display at the user'sfirst device; wherein the demographic or browsing history information issynchronized based on the unique identifier being stored on the user'sfirst device and the user's second device.

Additional objects and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will beset forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will beapparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of thedisclosed embodiments. The objects and advantages of the disclosedembodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements andcombinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate various exemplary embodiments andtogether with the description, serve to explain the principles of thedisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a series of schematic diagrams depicting exemplaryenvironments in which users may use disclosed devices and methodsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary environment and system forsynchronizing user advertising IDs across devices and browsers,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method for synchronizing user advertisingIDs across devices and browsers, according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for performing Internet advertisingtechniques based on user advertising IDs synchronized across devices andbrowsers, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flow for performing Internetadvertising techniques based on user advertising IDs synchronized acrossdevices and browsers, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of thedisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

As described above, prior Internet advertising technologies involvedcookies that stored advertising identifiers that are local or specificto a single machine/device or browser. The present disclosure describessystems and methods for linking a user's identity across the user'sdevices to generate and leverage additional opportunities to reach theuser with targeted advertising, and assemble fuller, more accuratebehavioral profile of a user through the observation of larger slices ofthe users online activities. Specifically, in one embodiment, thepresent disclosure relates to systems and methods for leveraging modernbrowsers, and their attendant features of data storage, sometimesreferred to as “local storage,” “browser storage,” and/or “sandboxedstorage.” In particular, the present disclosure relates to systems andmethods for leveraging a feature in modern browsers offering the abilityto synchronize storage across browsers linked to a single user.

In one embodiment, if a user is using a browser with an automaticallysynchronized app-private sandboxed storage system, the disclosed methodsmay include creating a sandbox registered to an advertising system ornetwork (using for example HTMLS's local storage system). The method maythen include creating a unique identifier for the user within thesandbox, and optionally creating an “instance” identifier for the userthat is explicitly meant to be different for each device and is usefulto differentiate behavior on a per device, but still linked, basis. Thisidentifier can be based on a unique device identifier provided by manymobile devices or another globally unique (e.g., random) identifierserialized to the device. The method may then include leveraging theuser's browser's cross-browser synchronization feature to replicate thedata created within the sandbox to all of the user's connected browsers.Accordingly, when the associated advertising system or network reads theidentifier upon future requests across any of the user's devices, thesame identifier for the user may be transmitted, allowing theadvertising system to address the same user across multiple devices. Inone embodiment, out-of-band mapping systems may further use additionalmapping techniques (e.g., WiFi or IP address matching) to map unique IDsin other spaces (e.g., the domain cookie space) to the local storagepersistent identifier, thereby providing utility of the presentlydisclosed techniques outside the set of browsers that implementsynchronized storage.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a series of environments in which usersmay access Internet content and advertising, according to exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 1 depicts howthe same user 100 may access the Internet using any number or type ofInternet-enabled devices, such as, for example, a mobile device 102(e.g., smartphone, PDA, etc.), a work computer 104 (e.g., such as a PC,Windows, Mac, etc., whether desktop or laptop), a home computer 106(e.g., a PC or Mac laptop or desktop), an automobile computer 108 (e.g.,whether OEM or after-market), a tablet 110, or any other type of kiosk,computer, or mobile device connected to the Internet through a wired orwireless connection. For example, a typical user might wake up in themorning and check the weather and his or her e-mail on his or hersmartphone 102. The user may then drive to work and access Internetcontent, such as traffic or news, through his or her automobile computer108. The user may then operate a computer 104 upon arriving at his orher workplace, including to access Internet content, whether related towork activities and/or personal activities. The user may then returnhome in the evening and use one or more of a home computer 106 and atablet 110. Of course, the preceding scenario is only exemplary innature, and users' Internet habits may vary widely in terms of whichdevices they use at given locations and times. For example, many usersmay use a tablet 110 only at work or only at home, while other users mayuse a tablet 110 while at home and at work, and for both personal andprofessional activities. Likewise, some users may use a mobile device102 to access both personal and professional Internet content and e-mailthroughout the day, even while also using a work computer 104. Also, auser may use a home computer 106 at non-traditional times of the day,and may use the home computer 106 to perform professional activities,whether during the day or evening.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary environment in which users may accessthe Internet using multiple devices, including a plurality of userdevices 102-110. FIG. 2 also illustrates an exemplary system forsynchronizing user advertising IDs across devices and browsers, thesystem including one or more of: publisher servers 112, advertiserservers 114, and synchronization server systems 150, all disposed incommunication with the Internet 101. In one embodiment, publisherservers 112 and advertiser servers 114 may be owned and operated bypublishing and advertising entities, respectively, and not strictly partof the same system as synchronization server systems 150.

In one embodiment, user devices 102-110 may be owned and used by one ormore people, who may be viewers of web pages over the Internet, eitherthrough a mobile browser or web browser stored on respective userdevices. As described above, user devices 102-110 may include any typeof electronic device configured to send and receive data, such aswebsites and electronic advertisements, over the Internet. For example,each of user devices 102-110 may include a server, personal computer,tablet computer, mobile device, smartphone, and/or personal digitalassistant (“PDA”) disposed in communication with the Internet. Each ofuser devices 102-110 may have a web browser or mobile browser installedfor receiving and displaying web and/or ad content from web servers.Thus, each of user devices 102-110 may be configured to receive anddisplay data that is received from one or more of publisher servers 112,advertiser servers 114, and synchronization server systems 150, amongany other web servers, domain name system (“DNS”) servers, contentdistribution network (“CDN”) servers, etc., over the Internet. Asdescribed above, in one embodiment, a user may own and, simultaneouslyor intermittently, use one or more of user devices 102-110, whether ofsimilar or different type.

Publisher web servers 112 may be owned and/or operated by any entitieshaving inventories of available online advertising space. For example,publishers may include online content providers, search engines, e-mailprograms, or any other online site or program having online usertraffic. Publishers may interact with user devices 102-110, advertiserservers 114, and synchronization server systems 150, through publisherservers 112 connected to the Internet. Thus, publishers may be able tocommunicate inventory information, such as site information, demographicinformation, cost information, etc., to other entities in theenvironment of FIG. 2.

Advertiser servers 114 may be owned and/or operated by any entitieshaving content, such as online advertisements (e.g., display ads, bannerads, pop-ups, etc.) desired to be delivered to online users. Advertisersmay interact with user devices 102-110, publisher servers 112, and/orsynchronization server systems 150, through advertiser servers 114connected to the Internet 101. Thus, advertisers may be able tocommunicate advertising information, such as ad information, targetinginformation, consumer information, budget information, biddinginformation, etc., to other entities in the environment of FIG. 2.

Synchronization server systems 150 may be configured to interact withone or more of user devices 102-110, publisher servers 112, andadvertiser servers 114 over the Internet 101 to perform any of thepresently disclosed techniques and methods. In one embodiment,synchronization server systems 150 may include one or more of: aplurality of ad servers 152, synchronization processor(s) 154, anddatabase(s) 156. Of course, it should be appreciated that ad servers 152may be operated by an operator only contractually or even looselyaffiliated with an operator of synchronization processor 154.Alternatively, the ad servers 152 and synchronization processor 154 maybe operated by the same advertising entity or online entity.

Ad servers 152 may include any type of servers configured to processadvertising information from advertisers and/or site information frompublishers, and send and receive ad requests and information from userdevices 102-110, either directly or indirectly. In one embodiment, adservers 152 may be owned and operated by an ad network, which may be abusiness that receives ad buys from advertisers, and serves ads oninventory supplied by publishers. Thus, an ad network operating adservers 152 may receive revenue from advertisers, purchase impressionsfrom publishers, and serve ads on publishers' web pages when viewersassociated with user devices 102-110 view those web pages. According toaspects of the present disclosure, ad servers 152 may be configured tointeract with synchronizing processor 154, such as through one or moreAPIs associated with synchronizing processor 154, to obtain one or moreof: unique user IDs, cookie data, browsing history, demographic data,user profile data, etc., in response to interaction from user devices102-110.

In certain embodiments, ad servers 152 may be remote web servers thatreceive advertising information from advertisers and serve ads to beplaced by publishers. Ad servers 152 may be configured to serve adsacross various domains of publishers, for example, based on advertisinginformation provided by advertisers. Ad servers 152 may also beconfigured to serve ads based on contextual targeting of web sites,search results, and/or user profile information. In some embodiments, adservers 152 may be configured to serve ads based on ad tags served byadvertiser servers 114 and/or publisher servers 112, and on ad requestsreceived from user devices 102-110. Ad servers 152 may be configured tosend and receive data from user devices 102-110, publisher servers 112,advertiser servers 114, and/or synchronizing processor 154, over theInternet.

Ad servers 152 and synchronizing processor 154, either alone or incombination, may include any type or combination of computing systems,such as clustered computing machines and/or servers. In one embodiment,each of ad servers 152 and synchronizing processor 154 may be anassembly of hardware, including a memory, a central processing unit(“CPU”), and/or a user interface. The memory may include any type of RAMor ROM embodied in a physical storage medium, such as magnetic storageincluding floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; semiconductorstorage such as solid state disk (SSD) or flash memory; optical discstorage; or magneto-optical disc storage. The CPU may include one ormore processors for processing data according to instructions stored inthe memory. The functions of the processor may be provided by a singlededicated processor or by a plurality of processors. Moreover, theprocessor may include, without limitation, digital signal processor(DSP) hardware, or any other hardware capable of executing software. Theuser interface may include any type or combination of input/outputdevices, such as a display monitor, touchpad, touchscreen, microphone,camera, keyboard, and/or mouse.

Regardless of specific physical components or layout, one or more of adservers 152 and synchronizing processor 154, or any other servers orsystems associated with ad network involving ad servers 152 andsynchronizing processor 154, may be programmed with instructions toperform a method of synchronizing user advertising IDs across devicesand browsers, and performing online targeted and behavioral advertisingacross user devices, according to the exemplary disclosed methods, suchas the exemplary methods described with respect to FIGS. 3-5 below.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the flow of information betweenentities for synchronizing user advertising IDs across devices andbrowsers, and performing online targeted and behavioral advertisingacross user devices, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Specifically, according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, user devices 102-110, publisher servers 112, advertiserservers 114, and ad servers 152, may exchange data with one or more ofsynchronizing processor 154 and databases 156 of synchronization serversystems 150 (all through one or more computers and/or servers connectedto the Internet 101, as described with respect to FIG. 2).

Specifically, FIG. 3 depicts a method 300 for synchronizing useradvertising IDs across devices and browsers. In one embodiment, method300 may include determining whether a user's browser enables localstorage. If so, method 300 may include creating in the user's browser asandbox stored in the local storage system and registered to theadvertising system (e.g., a network associated with ad servers 152and/or synchronizing server system 150) (step 302).

Method 300 may also include creating and storing a unique identifier forthe user in the created sandbox (step 304). For example, method 300 mayinclude generating a unique ID that will be used to reference the userassociated with the device in which the sandbox was created, as well asother devices that the user uses to access the Internet. In oneembodiment, a unique ID may be any type of numeric or alpha-numericidentifier that can uniquely identify one user from another. In oneembodiment, the unique ID may be stored in database 156 and indexed orotherwise related to a profile of information known about the usermatching the unique ID.

Method 300 may also include optionally creating and storing an instanceidentifier specific to each of the user's devices (step 306). Forexample, if it is desirable to know—not only that a user is visitingcertain sites or taking certain actions using multiple devices—but also,which device the user was using during those site visits or, in oneembodiment, an instance identifier may be associated with each device,and web browsing history and actions may be stored in relation to theinstance identifier. In another embodiment, database 156 may store atable or index containing a unique identifier for each user, and aplurality of instance identifiers indexed or related to the uniqueidentifier, each instance identifier being indexed or related to adevice of the user.

Method 300 may also include replicating data created in the sandboxacross multiple browsers and local drives of the user's connecteddevices (step 308). For example, in some embodiments, where a user isusing a browser that enables users to log-in or otherwise authenticate,and enables synchronizing local storage data remotely (i.e., “in thecloud”), that remotely stored data may be synchronized or replicatedacross all devices in which a user has logged-in or authenticated intosuch a browser.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for performing Internet advertisingtechniques based on user advertising IDs being synchronized acrossdevices and browsers, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 4 depicts a method 400 forexecuting techniques between ad servers 152, synchronizing processor154, and/or databases 156 of synchronizing server systems 150 toadvertise to users based on data collected across a plurality of devicesthey may use.

In one embodiment, method 400 may include receiving, from a publisher, arequest for an advertisement, the request including a unique identifierand/or instance identifier for a user or the user's device (step 402).While an ad request may be received from a publisher, an ad request mayalternatively or additionally be received from the user or from theuser's device. Specifically, an ad server 152 may receive a request todeliver an ad or ad tag to a user upon the user requesting and/orvisiting a web page hosted on a publisher server 112. In one embodiment,the ad request may include the unique ID assigned to the user, theinstance ID assigned to the user's device, and/or cookie data containingone or both of the unique ID and the instance ID. As described abovewith respect to FIG. 3, the unique ID and/or instance ID may have beenreplicated through remote storage (e.g., cloud computing), across localstorage of a plurality of the user's devices.

Method 400 may further include receiving, based on the unique identifierand/or instance identifier, a demographic or browsing historyinformation generated from the user's use of a first device (step 404).Upon receiving the unique identifier and/or instance identifier, an adserver 152 and/or synchronizing processor 154 of the synchronizingserver 150 may lookup demographic and/or browsing history informationgenerated from the user's use of a first device. For example, the adserver 152 and/or synchronizing processor 154 may search databases 156for the unique identifier and/or instance identifier to find indexedbrowsing history, demographic data, behavioral information, userprofiling information, purchase history, etc. The stored historical datamay be data generated from the user's first device or any other devicehaving local storage containing the unique identifier and/or instanceidentifier.

Method 400 may further include determining, based on the demographic orbrowsing history information generated from the user's use of the firstdevice, an advertisement to display to the user during the user's use ofa second device (step 406). Specifically, when a user uses a seconddevice to request web content, e.g., from a publisher server 112, theuser's second device may also request an ad from an ad server 152.Because the user's second device may send an ad request containing theuser's unique identifier or instance identifier, the ad servers 152and/or synchronizing processor 154 may again lookup demographic orbrowsing history information generated from the user's use of a firstdevice. For example, the ad server 152 and/or synchronizing processor154 may search databases 156 for the unique identifier and/or instanceidentifier to find indexed browsing history, demographic data,behavioral information, user profiling information, purchase history,etc. The stored historical data may be data generated from the user'sfirst device or any other device having local storage containing theunique identifier and/or instance identifier. As a result, the adservers 152 and/or synchronizing processor 154 may be able to serve adson the user's device based on one or more of: browsing history,demographic data, behavioral information, user profiling information,purchase history, any or all of which may be based on data collectedfrom more than one device used by the user.

In general, publishers 112 may host websites having web pages thatdisplay content and advertising. In general, when a user uses a device102-110 to visit a web page hosted on a publisher server 112, thepublisher may send an impression request to an ad network, in this case,an ad server 152. In the impression request, the publisher 112 mayrequest an advertisement to display to the visiting user. The impressionrequest may include any data elements normally included in an impressionrequest, such as information about the web page, the publisher, and/orthe visiting user. The advertising system may select an advertisementfor the publisher to display based on an algorithm that considers thereceived information about the web page, the publisher, and/or thevisiting user. Thus, the Internet advertising system may, consistentwith its ad bidding and exchange techniques and various business rules,award impressions of ads to impression requests from publisher servers112. In other words, the Internet advertising system, through ad servers152, may cause ads received from advertiser servers 114 to be displayedon web pages hosted on publisher servers 112 when users devices 102-110request those web pages. Of course, as discussed above, the display ofthe ads may be precisely targeted both to the identities of the usersand publishers of servers 112, and the content of the publisher's webpage. For example, the Internet advertising system may select fordisplay the ad that is most likely to generate a strong and favorablereaction from the visiting user, based on assumptions, historical data,and statistics gathered about the publisher's site and the user.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flow for performing Internetadvertising techniques based on user advertising IDs synchronized acrossdevices and browsers, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 5 depicts the flow of requestsbetween a user's first device 502 and an ad or publisher server 506 andan ad or synchronizing server 510. FIG. 5 also depicts the flow ofrequests between a user's second device 504 and an ad or publisherserver 508 and an ad or synchronizing server 510.

As described above, the user's first device 502 and second device 504may be any type of device 102-110 described with respect to FIGS. 1 and2. Also, it should be appreciated that any number of devices may beapplicable within the scope of the description of FIG. 5. In addition,it should be appreciated that, although depicted as different, ad orpublisher servers 506, 508 may optionally be the same server; andalthough depicted as a single server system, ad or synchronizingserver(s) 510 may be separate and distinct servers accessed by theuser's multiple devices, such as devices 502, 504. In one embodiment,the ad or publisher servers 506, 508 may correspond to publisher oradvertiser servers 112, 114, and/or the ad or synchronizing server(s)510 may correspond to the ad servers 152, synchronizing processor 154,and/or databases 156 of synchronizing server system 150.

As shown in FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the user's first device 502 may(1) request a web page or ad from an ad or publisher server 506; and (2)receive HTTP and an ad tag from the ad or publisher server 506. Theuser's first device 502 may execute the ad tag, such as by executing anytype of client side script (e.g., JavaScript) to (3A) look-up a uniqueID stored on the device. As described above, the unique ID may be storedwithin local storage associated with a browser of the device 502. Theuser's first device 502 may then (4A) issue an ad request to ad orsynchronizing servers 510, where the request includes the looked-upunique ID. As an alternative to transmitting the unique ID in an adrequest, the user device 502 may (3B) set a cookie containing the uniqueID in location storage, and then (4B) issue an ad request to ad orsynchronizing servers 510, where the ad request includes cookie datathat may or may not include the unique ID. In one embodiment, the setcookie may include another type of advertising identifier that iscross-referenced to the user through the unique ID.

The ad or synchronizing servers 510 may then store any data relating tothe user of the user device 502 in relation to a cookie ID or unique ID,such as browsing history, demographic data, behavioral information, userprofiling information, purchase history, etc. As described above,because the unique ID may be replicated across local storage of severaldevices associated with the user, the ad or synchronizing servers 510may target ads based on a more complete picture of a user's demographicor behavioral history. For example, the unique ID stored in localstorage of the user's first device 502 may be replicated into localstorage of the user's second device 504.

Accordingly, when the same user uses the second device 504 to access webpages using the same unique ID, the ad or synchronizing servers 510 mayaccess information and data collected with respect to the user's use ofthe first device when determining which content and advertising toserver to the user. Specifically, the user's second device 504 may (1)request a web page or ad from an ad or publisher server 508; and (2)receive HTTP and an ad tag from the ad or publisher server 508. Theuser's second device 504 may execute the ad tag, such as by executingany type of client side script (e.g., JavaScript) to (3A) look-up aunique ID stored on the device. As described above, the unique ID may bestored within local storage associated with a browser of the seconddevice 504. The user's second device 504 may then (4A) issue an adrequest to ad or synchronizing servers 510, where the request includesthe looked-up unique ID. As an alternative to transmitting the unique IDin an ad request, the user device 504 may (3B) set a cookie containingthe unique ID in location storage, and then (4B) issue an ad request toad or synchronizing servers 510, where the ad request includes cookiedata that may or may not include the unique ID. In one embodiment, theset cookie may include another type of advertising identifier that iscross-referenced to the user through the unique ID. Because the uniqueID may be replicated across local storage of several devices associatedwith the user, the ad or synchronizing servers 510 may target ads basedon a more complete picture of a user's demographic or behavioralhistory.

For example, the ad or synchronizing server(s) 510 may determine, basedon the demographic or browsing history information generated from theuser's use of the first device, an advertisement to display to the userduring the user's use of a second device. Specifically, when a user usesa second device to request web content, e.g., from a publisher server112, the user's second device may also request an ad from an ad server152. Because the user's second device may send an ad request containingthe user's unique identifier or instance identifier, the ad servers 152and/or synchronizing processor 154 may again lookup demographic orbrowsing history information generated from the user's use of a firstdevice. For example, the ad server 152 and/or synchronizing processor154 may search databases 156 for the unique identifier and/or instanceidentifier to find indexed browsing history, demographic data,behavioral information, user profiling information, purchase history,etc. The stored historical data may be data generated from the user'sfirst device or any other device having local storage containing theunique identifier and/or instance identifier. As a result, the adservers 152 and/or synchronizing processor 154 may be able to serve adson the user's device based on one or more of: browsing history,demographic data, behavioral information, user profiling information,purchase history, any or all of which may be based on data collectedfrom more than one device used by the user.

According to certain embodiments, the advertising systems may thenadvertise to a user based on which device a user is using to access theInternet. For example, if it is determined that a user is using his orher work computer, the advertising may incorporate all of the browsingand demographic data across the user's devices to determine an ad theuser will most likely click on while using his or her work computer. Ifit is determined that a user is using his or her home computer, theadvertising may incorporate all of the browsing and demographic dataacross the user's devices to determine an ad the user will most likelyclick on while using his or her home computer. If it is determined thata user is using his or her mobile device to access the Internet, theadvertising may incorporate all of the browsing and demographic dataacross the user's devices to determine an ad the user will most likelyclick on while using his or her mobile device. Thus, the advertisingsystem may be freed from previous constraints of considering only auser's work browsing history when delivering ads to the user's workcomputer browser, or considering only a user's home browsing historywhen delivering ads to the user's home computer, or considering only auser's mobile browsing history when delivering ads to the user's mobiledevice. To the contrary, the advertising system may advantageously usethe presently disclosed unique identifier and related systems andmethods to leverage a user's demographic and browsing history across allof the user's devices to identify and deliver targeted ads.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theinvention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the invention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of synchronizing data stores based onactivity data associated with electronic devices, comprising: creating afirst data store on a first electronic device of a user, the first datastore including activity data of the first electronic device, profileinformation of the user, and a unique user identifier associated withthe user; configuring a remote data store, with the unique useridentifier, to store activity data of the user and profile informationof the user; synchronizing, using the unique user identifier, the firstdata store on the first electronic device of the user with the remotedata store; creating a second data store on a second electronic deviceof the user, the second data store including activity data of the secondelectronic device, profile information of the user, and the unique useridentifier; authenticating the user on the second electronic device; andupon successful authenticating of the user, synchronizing the seconddata store of the second electronic device of the user, with the remotedata store.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving arequest for a graphical element from the first electronic device;determining, based on the activity data in the first data store and/orthe unique user identifier, the graphical element from a plurality ofgraphical elements; and providing the graphical element to the firstelectronic device.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphicalelement comprises a digital advertisement.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the first data store is a sandboxed storage system associatedwith a browser application.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a user-generated event; updating the first datastore based on the user-generated event; and synchronizing the firstdata store of the first electronic device and the second data store ofthe second electronic device by modifying activity data in the seconddata store on the second electronic device.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: generating a first instance identifier associatedwith the first electronic device; and associating the first instanceidentifier with the unique user identifier, wherein the first instanceidentifier is associated with a sandboxed storage system, and thesandboxed storage system is associated with a browser application. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a first instanceidentifier associated with the first electronic device; and associatingthe first instance identifier with the unique user identifier, whereinthe first instance identifier is associated with a domain cookie storagesystem of a browser application.
 8. A system for synchronizing datastores based on activity data associated with electronic devices,comprising: at least one data storage device storing instructions; andat least one processor configured to execute the instructions to performoperations comprising: creating a first data store on a first electronicdevice of a user, the first data store including activity data of thefirst electronic device, profile information of the user, and a uniqueuser identifier associated with the user; configuring a remote datastore, with the unique user identifier, to store activity data of theuser and profile information of the user; synchronizing, using theunique user identifier, the first data store on the first electronicdevice of the user with the remote data store; creating a second datastore on a second electronic device of the user, the second data storeincluding activity data of the second electronic device, profileinformation of the user, and the unique user identifier; authenticatingthe user on the second electronic; and upon successful authenticating ofthe user, synchronizing the second data store of the second electronicdevice of the user, with the remote data store.
 9. The system of claim8, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a request for agraphical element from the first electronic device; determining, basedon the activity data in the first data store and/or the unique useridentifier, the graphical element from a plurality of graphicalelements; and providing the graphical element to the first electronicdevice.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the graphical elementcomprises a digital advertisement.
 11. The system of claim 8, whereinthe operations further comprise: determining a user-generated event;updating the first data store based on the user-generated event; andsynchronizing the first data store of the first electronic device andthe second data store of the second electronic device by modifyingactivity data in the second data store on the second electronic device.12. The system of claim 8, wherein the first data store is a sandboxedstorage system associated with a browser application.
 13. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: generating a firstinstance identifier associated with the first electronic device; andassociating the first instance identifier with the unique useridentifier, and wherein the first instance identifier is associated witha sandboxed storage system, and the sandboxed storage system isassociated with a browser application.
 14. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations for synchronizingdata stores based on activity data associated with electronic devices,the operations comprising: creating a first data store on a firstelectronic device of a user, the first data store including activitydata of the first electronic device, profile information of the user,and a unique user identifier associated with the user; configuring aremote data store, with the unique user identifier, to store activitydata of the user and profile information of the user; synchronizing,using the unique user identifier, the first data store on the firstelectronic device of the user with the remote data store; creating asecond data store on a second electronic device of the user, the seconddata store including activity data of the second electronic device,profile information of the user, and the unique user identifier;authenticating the user on the second electronic device; and uponsuccessful authenticating of the user, synchronizing the second datastore of the second electronic device of the user, with the remote datastore.
 15. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise: generating a first instance identifier associated with thefirst electronic device; and associating the first instance identifierwith the unique user identifier, and wherein the first instanceidentifier is associated with a domain cookie storage system of abrowser application.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 14, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a requestfor a graphical element from the first electronic device; determining,based on the activity data in the first data store and/or the uniqueuser identifier, the graphical element from a plurality of graphicalelements; and providing the graphical element to the first electronicdevice.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the graphical element comprises a digital advertisement.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, the operationsfurther comprising: determining a user-generated event; updating thefirst data store based on the user-generated event; and synchronizingthe first data store of the first electronic device and the second datastore of the second electronic device by modifying activity data in thesecond data store on the second electronic device.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein theoperations further comprise: generating a first instance identifierassociated with the first electronic device; and associating the firstinstance identifier with the unique user identifier, and wherein thefirst instance identifier is associated with a sandboxed storage system,and the sandboxed storage system is associated with a browserapplication.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim14, wherein the operations further comprise: generating a first instanceidentifier associated with the first electronic device; and associatingthe first instance identifier with the unique user identifier, andwherein the first instance identifier is associated with a domain cookiestorage system of a browser application.